Vincent's Disk Replacement Success Story!

Vincent Giordano was on a mission trip in Haiti playing with children in an orphanage when he felt a sharp pain in his neck radiating down his left arm. His neck pain was so severe it couldn't be relieved with powerful medications, ice, heat, or traction. He hadn't slept in two days to due to the constant aching and stabbing pain. The pain was even worse when he tried to sit or walk and also caused 60% a significant loss of arm strength. Vincent said; "I was in excruciating pain. I have never experienced pain like this in my life."

Vincent was first seen by Dr. Goins' PA, Rowland Spencer and was diagnosed with cervical disc degeneration and cervical radiculopathy. After trying several non-surgical solutions, Vincent chose to undergo a total cervical disc replacement. "What I appreciate about Dr. Goins is I never felt like he was pushing me towards surgery. We explored a lot of different options before choosing to have surgery."

Watch Vincent's success story!

Dr. Goins describes the condition and surgery: "The spine is made up of stacked bones called vertebrae and the cushions in between the bones are called discs. Discs can sometimes wear down or develop tears due to trauma or injury. Injured discs can pinch or compress a nerve and when those nerves are pinched it can give you those symptoms of pain, numbness, or weakness that radiates down the arm and hand which can be very debilitating. "

Vincent was on a mission trip playing with children when he felt a sharp pain in his neck radiating down his left arm. His neck pain was so severe it couldn’t be relieved with powerful medications, ice, heat, or traction. He hadn’t slept in two days to due to the constant aching and stabbing pain. Two months after cervical disk replacement surgery Vincent is doing great and back to what he loves!

"A disc replacement at Resurgens Orthopaedic Spine Center can be done as an outpatient procedure. During the surgery, the injured disc is removed and takes the pressure off of the spinal nerve. Then the replacement disc component is inserted."

"A traditional cervical fusion is still a standard procedure, but in many instances we have a lot of active patients and they want to remain active. A disc replacement allows you to maintain motion and doesn't place stress on the disc above or below, the way a disc fusion procedure usually will do. Sometimes a fusion will can cause you to have more surgeries in the future."

Vincent explains: "I opted for the replacement because of all of the functionality I knew I would regain and for me, within a day of the surgery, I was walking. Within 4 weeks I was back to normal workouts. It was a dramatic change from the injury; a very quick recovery for me."

Two months after surgery Vincent was doing great! He was back to traveling and his intense workout routine including P90X and one-armed pushups with either arm. Now Vincent is even competing in and winning Jiu Jitsu competitions.

"I'm very, very happy with the results. It's been outstanding! I feel very fortunate that I ended up at Resurgens and with Dr. Goins. It was life changing."